Nilambar or Nilambara (reigned 1480–1498) was the last

Khen The ''khene'' (; spelled "Can" in English; Lao language, Lao: wikt:ແຄນ, ແຄນ; th, wikt:แคน, แคน, , ; km, wikt:គែន, គែន - ''Ken''; Vietnamese language, Vietnamese: ''khèn'') is a Lao mouth organ whose pipes, ...

ruler or ''Kamadeswar'' of the

Kamata kingdom The Kamata Kingdom (pron: ˈkʌmətɑ) emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in the old seat of the Kamarupa kingdom, a ...

in Western Assam and

North Bengal North Bengal ( bn, উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Gen ...

. He ruled from the city of Kamatapur (now called

Gosanimari Gosanimari (also known as ''Khalisa Gosanimari'') is both a village and an archaeological site in Dinhata I CD block, in the Dinhata subdivision of the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, north-eastern India. The name of this site was taken fro ...

Rule

Nilambar was the son of Chakradhwaj (1460–1480) and assumed the throne on the death of his father. He was a successful warrior and is regarded as the most powerful king of his lineage. He expanded the kingdom to include the present districts of

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in the ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

and northern

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He also conquered the Undivided Kamrup and

Darrang Darrang () is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Mangaldoi. The district occupies an area of 1585 km2. History No definitive records about Darrang are available for the pre-med ...

districts of Assam and the eastern parts of

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bounde ...

. Nilambar was interested in communication across the kingdom and invested in a road building program. One of the roads later formed part of the trunk route between

, Rangpur and

Bogra Bogra ( bn, বগুড়া), officially known as Bogura, is a major city located in Bogra District, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. The city is a major commercial hub in Northern Bangladesh. It is the second largest city in Rajshahi Divi ...

Defeat

Nilambar was defeated by the

Sultan of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal (Middle Bengali language, Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centu ...

Alauddin Husain Shah Ala-ud-din Husain Shah ( bn, আলাউদ্দিন হোসেন শাহ (1494–1519)Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.215-20 was an independent late medieval Sultan of Bengal, who ...

, in 1498. Husain Shah invaded the Kamata kingdom with 24,000 infantry, cavalry and a war flotilla, defeated the Kamata forces and captured Kamatapur after a long siege. In the traditional account, the invasion was instigated by Sachipatra, a disgruntled Brahmin minister whose son had been killed by the king for licentious behavior. It is said that he escaped the battlefield alive and was never heard of again.

Cultural references

The fall of Nilambar is the subject of an epic poem written by Hitesvar Barbaruva. It is regarded as the most powerful and easy-flowing blank verse in Assamese.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nilambar of Kamata People from Assam 15th-century Indian monarchs Year of birth missing 1498 deaths